by Craig Mecham

According to the experts there are two things which are a problem in our society. First is that we’re not getting enough exercise. We spend too much time sitting around. We sit on the couch, we sit in front of the TV, we sit in the car, we sit behind our desks. We just do too much sitting. Of course sometimes we just have to sit, but we need to do less of it. Maybe we wouldn’t all be so fat if we moved around a little more.

It seems that in our modern world, we just don’t move around like we used to. We should spend more time running, jogging or even walking. We should be taking more stairs and less escalators. The American Cancer Society reported recently that people who don’t exercise are endangering their health just as much as people who smoke! Not only that, but people who don’t exercise–even a small amount–are twice as likely to get heart disease as people who exercise.

Back in the early 60’s there were large numbers of people walking or jogging. It was quite a fad to see how far you could walk in a day. People would walk as much as 20, 25 or 30 miles in a day. And the newspapers would write articles about it! Even back then, our country was worried that we were sitting around and getting flabby. No one expects us to walk 30 miles today, but it we be good if we did something simple like play an outdoor family game together.

The experts say that just a small amount of exercise is still helpful for our bodies. Many people are taking advantage of outdoor family games to add some exercise to their routines. The popularity of backyard games has increased dramatically over the past year or two. There are many different types from which to choose and they’re an inexpensive way to have fun while exercising.

BlongoBall is one game that is becoming increasingly popular all across the nation. It’s easy to set up and fun to play. You don’t need any particular athletic ability so it’s suitable for all ages from grade schoolers to Grandpa and Grandma.

BlongoBall is played by tossing a bolo made from two golf balls at either end of a length of rope in such a way that it will wrap around the horizontal rungs of a “ladder” type goal. It’s easy and fun and anyone can play.

There are many BlongoBall imitators in the “toss it, wrap it, score” game category. BlongoBall is the original and our favorite. We’ve tested most all of these types of games and our preference is for BlongoBall because it is the only one we think is built to last. Some of the cheap imitations broke almost immediately, so be careful when buying a game if this type.

The second thing the experts are telling us is that we don’t spend enough time together as families. Of course this is probably not going to make you lose weight, unless being with your family puts you off your dinner. But an essential part of healthy psychology and parenting is to spend time together not just working and handling the chores involved with running a family, but doing fun things.

Outdoor family games are perfect answers to the question of what to do for family fun time. Most families will enjoy a game like BlongoBall which is easy to learn and fun to play. Parents of teenagers enjoy BlongoBall because it is interesting and exciting enough to entice the teenagers to participate without being so difficult that younger or even older family members will be discouraged.

One of the things that makes BlongoBall one of our favorite outdoor family games is that not only can you play it in groups, but you can talk and interact with each other while you’re playing. Intense concentration is not required for effective play, but the game is still challenging enough to capture the interest of players of all ages and abilities. And-the soft rubber ball sets are ideal for playing indoors. This makes BlongoBall a year round favorite at many houses.

All in all, outdoor family games are a great idea not only for staying in shape physically, but for keeping your family in shape and emotionally healthy.

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